Firefox has always been associated with a nameless little creature wrapped around the globe. In the West, it was more often described as a red panda, while here it was usually called a fox. However, after a major rebrand, Mozilla gave its mascot a name, a backstory, and even an максимально vague gender identity.
The mascot is now called Kit. It is neither a fox nor a panda, but “simply Firefox,” combining the agility of a fox with the charm of a red panda. Its tail, meanwhile, is said to “convey the power of movement and emotion.” Everything might have gone unnoticed, if users in early April had not spotted that Mozilla had, for some reason, specified the pronouns people should use for the creature: he/him, they/them, she/her, and it.
Kit (he/she/they/it) is the user’s constant companion. Wherever they go, Kit will accompany and guide them, offering witty and playful support and encouragement, and inspiring confidence in the freedom to move around.
In practice, the company simply indicated that users could refer to its mascot however they liked. However, in the US and other English-speaking countries, pronouns are often listed — for example, in social media profiles — to signal gender identity. As a result, many interpreted this line from Mozilla’s press materials as an attempt to assign the mascot some kind of gender identity.
After that, the internet could not be stopped. Users joked that “Kit is the first non-binary fox in history,” and wondered how a “non-binary fox could function in binary code.” Others complained that the company had become so obsessed with inclusivity that now even browser animals had to align with the modern agenda. Mozilla itself has not yet commented on this “strange controversy,” but it seems likely that any statement from the company would upset someone anyway.
To you, is the Firefox mascot a fox or a red panda?
